


Interloper

by sadietheauthor



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M, Rin being a meddler, haru is a gentleman, slight mentions of makorin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-02
Updated: 2015-03-02
Packaged: 2018-03-15 23:30:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3466031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sadietheauthor/pseuds/sadietheauthor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Sequel to 'home'.)<br/>Haru has a slightly unwelcome house guest on what is supposed to be his and Makoto's date night.  Rin, stop making rude gestures just because Makoto can't see you.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Interloper

“Oh just shut up,” Haru sighed, head hurting.  
“D-did…did you just tell me to shut up?” Rin asked, shocked.  
“You were being annoying,” Haru says as he shrugs, face back to its neutral default.  
“Oh, I’M annoying? Mr. ‘I only swim free’, asshole. You’re at least ten times more annoying than I am!”  
Haru cut Rin a glare. “You’re the one who showed up uninvited and has been talking my ear off for an hour. I was going to sleep.”  
Rin shrugged. “My roommate messed up the room, so I’m making him clean it until it’s spotless and I’m not going back until he at least has that freaky thing cleaned off his desk.”  
Haru raised an eyebrow.  
“You don’t want to know,” Rin said, shuddering.  
They were both sitting at Haru’s dining table, cross legged, mugs of tea in hand, and Rin had been indeed talking Haru’s ear off for an hour.  
“Okay, so I have a confession to make,” Rin started, thumping his elbow down on the table, resting his chin on his hand. “I came here for more than just to babble on about something useless.”  
“I gathered that, you’re usually not one for uselessness,” Haru said, lifting the tea to his lips.  
“I wanna make a move on Makoto, but the dude’s dense. I figured since you knew him best, you could give me some advice on getting through his skull.”  
Haru nearly choked on his tea, but he swallowed quickly and set the mug back down, masking the cough with the sound of ceramic hitting wood.  
“You can’t,” Haru managed to say, lowering his gaze to glare at Rin once more. “I’m already dating him. He wouldn’t be interested.”  
Ever since they had kissed that night, at Makoto’s house, they had decided to be in a relationship. Haru loved Makoto, and he knew the feelings were reciprocated. Haru wasn’t about to let Rin screw it up, even if they had become friends again.  
“What the fuck?! You’re screwing Makoto ‘Mother hen’ Tachibana, and you didn’t think to tell me? When the fuck did this happen!”  
Rin was standing now, eyes wide, shark teeth showing, leaning towards Haru with more interest than true malice.  
“I said we were dating, not having sex,” Haru grouched, looking passively up at Rin. “He wants to, but not until the time is right. Personally, I’d rather never have it than risk making him uncomfortable.” Haru winced inwardly. He never liked sharing his feelings on certain subjects, like sex and love.  
“It only happened a couple of weeks ago, we just haven’t gotten around to telling you,” Haru continued, wondering why in the world he was sharing so much. Maybe, he thought, it was because he was still trying to repair his relationship with Rin. He decided it was because friends needed to be honest, and he’d spent too long ignoring everyone else to keep doing it now.  
“You are planning to screw though, that’s a thing that’s happening eventually, right?”  
Haru sighed at Rin’s crass mouth, and repeated himself. “If and when Makoto feels comfortable, then yes, we might have sex.”  
“God dammit. I’m just a couple of weeks too late for it, too. Fuck.”  
“So, you like him too…” Haru muttered, more to himself than Rin.  
“Yeah, but whatever. You two have been attached at the hip since, like, birth or something. I can back off when I need to! I’m not selfish!”  
“I never said you were,” Haru muttered, glancing at Rin from under his bangs.  
Rin was stubbornly looking out the window, ignoring Haru, his cheeks puffed up. Haru had the urge to poke him, but didn’t feel like going to the hospital to have his finger re-attached if he got his hand anywhere close to the bear trap that was Rin’s mouth.  
Haru wondered if it would really be that easy, if Rin did like Makoto, to just give up on him entirely. It didn’t seem very Rin-like to Haru, a breach of the character Rin was in Haru’s mind, which is why he couldn’t leave the subject alone, batting at it like a cat might with fish bones.  
“Why do you like him?” Haru asked, quietly. He was almost unsure if Rin had heard him, but after a few tense seconds Rin answered, loudly.  
“Well, there aren’t any reasons to dislike him! He’s nice, handsome, caring. He pets stray kittens and volunteers at the animal shelter for Christ sake! I mean, he’s not the brightest color in the crayon box sometimes, but that’s not always a bad thing! He’s clumsy and trusting and goddammit Haru you are really lucky you know that?!”  
“Yes. I am very lucky. Makoto is my best friend, and without him…” Haru made a small wave with his hand, leaving the ‘without him’ up to imagination.  
A knock on the door broke Haru out of his introspection, and brought an end to Rin’s raging about biceps and kittens.  
Haru, being a reasonable host, pardoned himself to get the door, his feet padding along silently towards the door, only to be stopped by a feeling as he touched the door handle.  
A smile tried to fight it’s way onto his face, and his heart skipped a quick beat, as he opened the door to Makoto smiling down at him, an overnight bag slung across one broad shoulder.  
“Morning Haru,” He said cheerfully, easy grin in place as it nearly always was.  
“Morning. I almost forgot you were coming over. Rin’s here too.”  
It wasn’t morning. Makoto just didn’t like the way ‘good afternoon’ felt to say, thinking it was too formal for his and Haru’s friendship-turned-relationship. Haru just repeated it because it made Makoto smile.  
“Hi Rin!” Makoto waved to the sharky red-head, moving from the doorway to the dining-room table, sitting on one of the sides not occupied by Rin or Haru’s tea mug.  
Haru noted that he seemed to be in especially good spirits, practically dancing as he walked, still moving even as he was sitting down.  
“Something good happen?” Haru asked, sitting back down where he’d been seated previously, picking his mug back up. The tea was getting cool, he noted, thinking that he’d better drink it quick before it became unappetizing.  
“I’m just excited to be spending the night, Haru-chan.”  
Haru blushed and muttered his usual line of ‘drop the –chan’, averting his eyes.  
“So, what are you doing over here, Rin? I’d have thought you’d be spending the day at the gym, since it’s your team’s free day,” Makoto asked, smile warm and polite as always. Haru wanted to kiss him, but ignored that urge as Rin launched into complaining about his roommate again, gesturing so widely Haru worried about Rin’s tea.  
The conversation flowed between Rin and Makoto easily, Haru mostly listening, but he didn’t feel left out. He liked it better, listening to his boyfriend and friend trade stories.  
Even if Rin made some suggestive gestures to Haru when Makoto was recounting something the twins had done and wasn’t paying attention.  
It took more than an hour for Haru to finally kick Rin out of the house, most of his mug of tea undrunk and cold. He finally convinced him to leave because the sky was beginning to turn dark, and curfew was apparently a big deal at that boarding school.  
“Later you losers,” Rin joked, grinning, walking backwards down the stairs, ignoring Makoto’s clucking to turn around and stop being an idiot. (Haru’s words, not Makoto’s)  
“Be sure to use protection!” He shouted as he turned around and dashed down the stairs, out of earshot.  
Makoto, of course, was a very vivid shade of red, sputtering about how did Rin know, they didn’t tell him yet. Haru just grabbed his shirt and led him back inside.  
They had a date with the couch, a romantic movie, and maybe some making out.  
Glancing at Makoto’s red, but very handsome face, Haru mentally amended that last part to ‘definitely a bit of making out’.


End file.
